An Order of Dreams, with a Garnish of Stars
by MacyBear17
Summary: It's been a decade since they left high school and Riverdale now... Elizabeth 'Betty' Cooper is now a famous journalist. Just who is this elusive Chef Sy Jones she has an interview with? And what are the consequences of this interview?... A Jug/Bets Fic
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Hi everyone... So, this is my maiden attempt at writing some Archie FF... I've always loved Juggie and Betty and I hope I do them justice. This is going to be mainly fluff with bits of angst thrown in to spice things up a bit... for now, it is T rated, I may change my mind later. ;P**_

_**So without further ado, here's the story... Oh and I don't own anything other than this storyline... and my laptop. Any character that you recognize belongs to Archie Comics. **_

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><p>27 year old Elizabeth Jane Cooper sighed as she stuffed yet another folder into her already ready-to-burst hold all and retrieved her boarding pass from the pocket of her tan winter coat. Her editor had dropped this interview into her lap at the last moment but there was no way she was stepping down from accepting this challenge...<p>

Everybody who was anybody in the culinary world would kill to be in her shoes right now and Elizabeth smirked at the idea of pulling one over the perennially snooty George Summers, the award winning food columnist for the Tribune. This interview would do it... Elizabeth Cooper would be making history if she managed to get the super elusive and ultra media shy Michelin star chef Sy Jones to talk to her.

For someone who'd spent years in the most hostile environments - including two war zones, getting the perfect pictures that rocked the world along with bittersweet, heartbreaking stories that garnered her the spotlight attention in her elite media circle, interviewing a chef shouldn't be a big deal... but this one was.

Elizabeth had started out as an overseas correspondent for the New York Times after she'd been recruited right out of her Journalism degree at NYU. Then she'd graduated onto War Correspondent and with a couple of services of duty under her belt, she was feeling the tiredness start to seep into her bones. She knew she was talented and very satisfied with her job, but Elizabeth and thankfully her editor too felt that it was high time she took a break and relaxed with some more mundane work... hence the stint in the lifestyle section and the tries at interviewing the elusive culinary genius, who, it seemed from her file, was just about her age.

For someone who was this famous in his industry, Chef Jones had proved to be extremely elusive when it came to press and media attention. His unique style, blending home style comfort food with cutting edge culinary techniques and molecular gastronomy had made Chef Jones a celebrity worldwide in the few years he'd been active in the industry. The man seemed to just have a flair for the extraordinary and a truly mind boggling understanding of the human palette and as a result had just sky rocketed to fame in under half a dozen years after graduating with top honors from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Now, at 27, he already owned and ran four restaurants, two in the United States and two in London and Paris.

He never had problems when a critic wanted to write about his food, but when someone started asking about the chef himself, they were always faced with a blank wall... most never even got past the harridan of a sous chef he had, Glinda Hertzmann. The stocky middle aged German chef protected Chef Jones like he was her son and had made sure that no one even got near the elusive genius. In fact, she was so good that no one had ever gotten a good picture of Chef Sy Jones.

From what Elizabeth could see on the blurry pictures and half profile views on her file, Sy Jones seemed to be a tall, lanky guy with pale skin and dark hair. The slightly long, pointed nose made her remember another favorite person of hers from a long time ago and Elizabeth sighed again, smiling slightly at the bittersweet memories, as she stuffed the folder into her holdall and proceeded to hand over her boarding pass to the flight attendant and found her seat in first class.

Relaxing into the cushy seat that was to be her home for the next five hours, Elizabeth reflected on how life as she'd known it, had changed in the last decade.

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><p><em><strong>AN: So there it is... What do you think?**_

_**I know it doesn't look too much like an Archie fic now, but trust me, it will get better... hopefully. **_

_**Please review your thoughts and ideas... Every bit of support is appreciated :)**_

_**Lotsa luv and Choco-chip cookies**_

_**Macybear**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: So... here's the second chapter. Hope you guys like it... :) **_

_**Note : All Flashbacks are book-ended by -Flashback- signs, and all text inside flashbacks will be italized.**_

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><p>It had all started, ironically enough, with food. No... that wasn't right. It had all actually started eons ago, with one red headed, clueless, all-american teenager named Archibald Andrews. Thinking back to just how obsessed she'd been over him, Elizabeth found it vaguely funny that she hadn't even spoken to him in the last five years. But life, when she'd been 16 years old, had centered on the existence of Archie.<p>

**-Flashback-**

_Betty Cooper was over the moon. It was the night before the annual Valentine's Day dance at school and this time, Archie had actually asked her!... HER... instead of the beautiful, rich and utterly manipulative brunette best friend of hers Ronnie Lodge. And that too, he hadn't actually waited till the last minute to ask her because Ronnie wasn't available._

_But this time, as it was, Ronnie was going to be away on a date with her father's friend's son, attending the Country Club's most exclusive and formal Valentine Bash, leaving Archie free... to take her, li'l ol' Betty Cooper to the most romantic date of the year. Of course she was happy... in fact, happy didn't start to cut it._

_She'd spent two meticulous weekends getting the prettiest dress possible ready for the dance and now that it was all done and waiting for her back home, Betty could hardly wait for school to end. The deep crimson color of the knee length sheath would compliment her tanned skin, blonde hair and deep blue eyes and Betty knew that once she was done with her hair and makeup for the occasion, Archie would be unable to take his eyes off her._

**-End Flashback-**

Of course, she'd had other friends... Ronnie, Reggie, Dilton, Moose, Chuck, Nancy... pretty much everybody in their year had been her friend. Yup. That was what she'd been... sweet little gullible Betty Cooper, everybody's friend. Even the faculty at school liked her and she'd been known to everybody from the Mayor of Riverdale down to the last little kid she'd babysat.

Veronica Lodge though, had a special place of honor in her friends roster. Veronica had been her best friend and worst enemy for the previous how many ever years she could remember. It was something about the sheer opposite-ness of their natures that kept them gravitating to each other even through disastrous attempts at breaking each other's relationship's with the quintessential Archie. Yeah... Both her and Ron had been certifiably crazy about the redhead teenager.

Of course Veronica Lodge had been everything she was not and vice versa, but something had made the two of them best friends when they'd first met each other when they were 6 years old. The rest as you say, was history. They'd been the best gal pals in the world till the advent of one clueless but adorable red headed, freckle faced boy. Archie Andrews had changed both their happy little worlds irrevocably and things had never been the same.

Somehow, how she never knew even now, but she and Ron had managed to separate the Archie thing from the rest of their life after a couple of years of all out fights and missing their best girlfriend. A semblance of normality had returned to their lives with that but everything still inexorably hinged around Archie.

And the romantic triangle of the century was in business. But most of Riverdale knew that almost all the time it was either a straight line between Ron and Archie or some crazy pentagon that involved Ron, Archie, Betty, Reggie and for some not-so-insane reason, Jughead.

**-Continue Flashback-**

_Betty was still floating around in her delicious daydream where Archie fell head over heels in love with her and asked her to go steady with him right in the middle of the dance floor, even ignoring a fuming Veronica Lodge to declare his everlasting love for her, when she heard the bell ring to signal the end of the day. Her hurry to get home and get started on the preparations for her date were brought to a hasty halt when she turned a corner and ran headlong into someone._

_"Oof!..."_

_"Oh... I am so sorry... I was..."_

_Her hasty apologies stopped and re-doubled when she caught sight of a tall, lanky form sprawled on the floor, clad in a black shirt, skinny jeans and a signature pointy edged beanie_

_"Juggie!... Oh... Are you alright? I was in sort of a hurry and I wasn't looking... So sorry Juggie.."_

_"It's okay Bets... no harm no foul. So... where's the fire?" her best guy friend asked, with his signature half lidded look, a small smirk hovering on his lips as he already knew the reason for her haste_

_"Sorry Jug... It's just that I have to get home... get ready for the dance you know..."_

_"Oh yeah. The Valentine's day dance. Right..."_

_The tone said it all. Forsythe P. Jones, more popularly known as Jughead, was not a happy camper about the dance. Of course, he was rarely happy about anything that involved crowds, bad punch, giggling girls and formal dress code, so yeah... Jughead was not a happy man and there was nothing that could really be done about that seeing as he'd been strong armed by his friends into promising to go, since this would be one of the last school dances before they all graduated._

_"So... Archie's taking you to the dance huh?" came the sly query, accompanied by a teasing glint in those chocolate eyes_

_"Y-Yeah... He is. Ron has to go to some exclusive Country Club bash, so..."_

_She would've continued but Jughead pulled her to a stop by the swinging double doors that led out of the school_

_"Stop that Bets. Look... you're in no way any less than Miss High and Mighty Veronica Lodge okay? Any man would be happy to have you as his date for the dance... you are not anybody's substitute Betty Cooper. Get that into your brain... Okay?"_

_Betty couldn't really understand all the strong emotions swirling around in those brown depths but she understood the strength of conviction that his voice held... and it brought tears into her eyes_

_"Th-Thanks Juggie... you're a great friend. I don't know what I'd do without you..."_

_"Well, you wouldn't need to know because Dr. Jones is and will always be at your service milady..." he said with an exaggerated bow, sweeping the crown beanie off his disheveled head of hair, making her giggle and forget the tears that were in her eyes a moment ago_

_"Why thank you kind sir! Now come on... we don't wanna be late and in case you forgot, I am a girl and I need some time to get ready for stuff like this... come on!"_

_Dragging her second best friend by the hand, Betty Cooper almost ran all the way home, her heart full of confidence and happiness that today was the day... that Archie Andrews found the love of his life... her._

**-End Flashback-**

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><p><em><strong>AN: So there it is... another chapter done. **_

_**Any comment, idea or just random feedback is welcome and highly appreciated... :)**_

_**Please review... it makes my day :)**_

_**lotsa luv and cookies**_

**_Macybear_  
><strong>


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Hi guys... sorry for not posting anything for quite sometime. Will try and keep a regular schedule from now on... but can`t promise anything. For now... read and enjoy. :)**_

_**I would like to thank aamrun for the support and critiquing... Thanks buddy. :)**_

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><p>Of course Archie had found the love of his life that night... it had just not been her. That had been the story of her life then, playing second fiddle to the wealthy and fabulous Veronica Lodge. But in all her years of friendship with Ronnie and her years of friendship and quasi-relationship with Archie, not once had the young man ever lied to her or left her in the lurch. He'd make a hundred dates and break a hundred and twenty of them but he always called her to tell her about it... maybe he'd not been a gentleman about it, but then she'd known what she was getting herself into when she fell in love with the adorable red headed all American boy.<p>

Sigh!... Love life had been complicated as a teenager... and Elizabeth knew that though it had affected her, it hadn't really changed her as a person. She'd just gone on with her life, making place for every new experience. While most of her friends had remained hung up on their school life, Elizabeth had even then been mature enough to understand that life on the outside was quite unlike what they'd experienced till then in school. There was no safety net, there would be no second chances and there was definitely no detention for any wrongdoing. In real life, you'd have to face up to the consequences of your actions and they would never be just a slap on the wrist or an hour of detention.

Elizabeth Cooper had known even then, that the only way she could be successful in life was to know herself and be herself. Changing herself or her personality according to others will or whims was not what she was about and she'd managed to hold on to her priorities all through senior year till graduation.

There had been a lot of changes, some major upheavals in their lives that year. Moose and Midge had finally had a doozy of a fight in the middle of the mall and broken up one last time. Things had been quite difficult in their group for a while as the two of them had tried to bring their friends in on the argument. Thankfully, things subsided a bit some time later and life had returned to what was taken as normal in Riverdale... but one of the star couples of the senior class were broken up and things would never be the same again. Of course Moose had later gone on to play in for the Denver Broncos and had been drafted year after year on the first list. He'd gotten into highly publicized relationships with a lot of models one after another but was yet to settle down. Midge had become a successful TV Soap star and had just gotten married for the third time, this time to her current leading man.

Nancy and Chuck, on the other hand, had managed to solidify their relationship even further, both of them planning on going to the same college after graduation. They'd been one of the first people in their class to get married. Elizabeth had been Nancy's maid of honor when she and Chuck got married right after they graduated college. Nancy had become an extremely successful interior designer in the later years and now had an exclusive clientele featuring a gaggle of Hollywood stars and such. Chuck had gone on to become a star in athletics, getting the chance to represent his country in the Olympic Games, where he'd garnered a bunch of medals for the USA. But following a bad accident two years later, which had left him unable to compete professionally, Chuck had turned to the profession which had given him hours of pleasure when he'd been young. Chuck Clayton was now a household name, being the creator of an extremely popular comic book superhero series. From what Elizabeth knew, there was even some talk of Hollywood studios queuing up to get movie making rights for his books. They'd had two children over the years, a boy and a girl and were as happy as could be.

Another major revelation came when Dilton Doiley had been seen in the library cozying up with none other than Cheryl Blossom. Elizabeth, having been a good friend to both of them, had known about their fledgling relationship long before anyone even had any idea of it of course. Most people never saw beyond Cheryl's looks to see the pin sharp brain that had captivated Riverdale's resident genius. Cheryl had also not bothered about how the two of them would look together when faced with the prospect of spending hours upon hours discussing their favorite topics - Calculus and Astrophysics.

But what could be termed the biggest change of that year had come ironically, from her. Finding out that Archie had lied to her so that he could take Veronica to her party that night had forcibly taken off the rose colored glasses she'd donned for the past so many years. And without those glasses obscuring her vision and perception, Betty could see properly for the first time in a long while and what she saw wasn't all that encouraging. She had finally tired of playing second fiddle to the rich and beautiful best friend of hers and it was time she faced up to the fact that while Veronica remained available, she would forever be Archie Andrews' back up plan. The next day, while her new found clarity and courage remained, she'd gone up to the redhead and told him in no uncertain terms that she would henceforth be unavailable to date him. But even she had not quite foreseen the consequences of her actions till she'd actually taken them.

**-Flashback-**

_The fiasco with the dance last night had broken all the barriers around Betty's heart. She'd spent the entire night crying for what could've been. Even now she was pale and her eyes were red and puffy... she looked fragile and as if she would readily break into sobs at any given moment but on the inside, Betty Cooper had probably never been stronger or more determined._

_Sometime around half past 3 in the morning, she'd come to the conclusion that this was it. She was done. She was done being Archie's go to girl when things went wrong. She was a nice person and not bad looking and she deserved to have someone in her life that liked her for who she was and wanted to be there for her when she needed him. She wanted a normal relationship with a normal boy, nothing that involved the high octane, emotionally draining triangle business that she seemed to be stuck in with Archie and Veronica. And the only way out, seemed to be to get rid of her Archie obsession. Yes... she finally saw it for what it was... or rather had been. She'd been totally over-the-top obsessed with Archie Andrews for years now and now that she'd come to a decision, she was going to stop it. Pull out when she still had something left inside her heart._

_Betty knew that even though she'd taken the decision, it would be quite difficult to stick with it and pull through... and this was even before she'd even thought about telling Archie about it. She had no idea how he would react to it. If he reacted with relief, she would just break but on the other hand, if he couldn't deal with it, that would also create a whole lot of emotional pain for her. But once she'd made a decision on this matter, she knew she couldn't go back on it. Now that she'd set herself on the fact that she would break up with Archie, find someone else to date and try leading a normal, Archie-free life from now on, she needed to act on it. And the first step was to de-Archie-fy her room._

_The formidable task had taken her about four hours and by the time the sun came up on the next day, Betty Cooper's room looked alarmingly like it did on the day they'd moved in. Her walls were bare of a single music band poster, her dresser was littered with empty picture frames and there were four huge trash bags full of pictures, cards, letters, notes, t-shirts and stuffed toys that had been the memorabilia of her pseudo-relationship with Archie._

_Looking around at her ravaged room, Betty felt emotionally drained and empty but she also felt curiously free. The experience had been cathartic... Her heart had come to terms with her juvenile crush and consequent obsession with the redheaded boy and had now come to understand that it was high time she let go._

_At the sound of her door opening, Betty turned to see her mother gaping at the room and at her exhausted daughter, trying to make sure she was actually seeing what she thought she saw._

_"Oh my baby... I am so sorry"_

_Her mother's expression had said it all and Betty couldn't control her tears as she broke down in her mother's warm, welcoming embrace and just let it all go. The worry, the sadness, the anger and the exhaustion all bled out of her as she sobbed like a baby in her mother's shoulder, Alice's hand rubbing up and down her back soothingly._

_Alice Cooper had been worried about her youngest child's relationship with Archie Andrews and how she more often than not cried into her pillow at night about him deserting her for her brunette friend Veronica Lodge. Betty'd always been a happy child and maintained a sunny disposition as she grew up but Alice had seem the sadness in her child's eyes whenever she saw Archie and Ronnie Lodge together._

_Now as she looked at Betty's curiously empty room, she knew better than to ask what had brought it on. Her eyes went around the room again, noting how bare the walls looked without the pictures of the redheaded boy staring back at her. She absently noted that the only picture that seemed to be in it's place was a picture of Betty and Jughead taken last summer during their annual Cooper-Jones cookout. Betty and Jughead were grinning into the camera as they had their arms around each other's shoulders, looking extremely happy and comfortable, while Jellybean peeked from between their heads, with a matching happy grin as she kissed Betty on the cheek._

_Knowing what she did about Betty, Alice knew that Betty had finally come to terms with her relationship with Archie or lack thereof. She knew that her child was finally growing up and she was happy for the fact. She and Hal always wanted Betty to be happy and that was why they'd never interfered with her and Archie's relationship even though they'd not been happy about the way the Andrews boy treated her. Now that Betty herself had made the decision to get over Archie, they would do all they could, to support her._

**-End Flashback-**

And support her they did. They hadn't been the only ones... half the school population, most of her faculty, all her friends, even some of Archie's friends who only knew of her supported her through the rest of the year. The Jones family as a whole, had installed themselves firmly behind her, offering silent but strong support whenever she needed it and she'd been unceasingly grateful for it.

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><p><em><strong>AN: So there it is... another chapter done. Hope you liked it.**_

_**All sorts of feedback welcomed... please review your thoughts and ideas. It makes my day :)**_

_**lotsa luv and shortbread cookies**_

_**Macybear**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Hi guys... So sorry for the loooooong break i took from writing. But what can I say? I got married! But I plan to be kinda sorta regular from now on. So keep on the lookout for updates and plz get back to me with your thoughts and views.** _

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><p><strong>Chapter 04<strong>

That single event had triggered an avalanche... Archie Andrews went from an adorable teenage crush and friend to a petulant boy who just couldn't get over the fact that he wasn't going to be able to have her to himself for the rest of his life. He'd become the image of a spoiled child who threw a tantrum when one toy was taken away even though he had many others to play with.

Veronica, ironically was the ever present best friend and made sure that Betty didn't lose it and go off the deep end with self-pity. Of course, Jughead had always been there... the silent but incredibly supportive rock that anchored her teenage life. It had taken a very long time for Archie to get to terms with the fact that Betty, a girl he'd that he'd been sure would be there for him whenever he needed her, was dumping him. And the intervening year was a really awkward period for the group of friends who'd been together since middle school. Midge, Moose, Nancy, Chuck, Dilton, Ethel, Reggie... all of them had been a part of the close knit group along with Archie, Veronica, Betty and Jughead and that friendship had taken each of them through various tough times in life. Even after those months of awkwardness and graduation from high school, her relationship with the redhead had never been what could be termed as 'Good', ever again.

But in senior year, Midge and Moose had their acrimonious break up, Archie had taken to avoiding Betty, Veronica had become torn between her relationship with Archie and her friendship with Betty and because Archie had treated Betty badly, Archie and Jughead had also had a sort of a falling out. It looked as if the bond of friendship between the group that had been together for so long, had seen each other through so much was going to break into pieces...

But even those uncomfortable months had not remained etched in Elizabeth's memory… Not like some other events of her last summer at Riverdale had. And funnily enough, they hadn't involved Archie Andrews... at least not directly.

**-Flashback-**

_Betty Cooper was on top of the world... figuratively of course. School had just gotten over for the last time... all they had to do was attend Graduation sometime in June and they would all be done with Riverdale High. Of course, the sadness about leaving the familiar, comfortable hallowed halls of education and the fear of setting foot into the unknown would set in soon, but for now, Betty couldn't feel anything but sheer joy at getting one phase of her life over with._

_School had probably been the most fun she'd ever had in her life. Don't mistake it, she wasn't a nerd by any count. A very intelligent girl she was, but equally popular and quite involved in all sorts of sports and extracurricular activities. She'd graduated third in her school, behind resident genius Dilton Doiley and (to most people's surprise but not hers) Forsythe P. Jones._

_Catching sight of her best friend and neighbor by his distinctive headgear, Betty hastened towards the lanky boy as he ambled away from the school building._

_"Juggie! Wait up!..."_

_Turning, Jughead smiled in acknowledgement as he waited for his pretty much only female friend to catch up. They'd always walked home from school together... it was sort of a tradition and who was she to mess with tradition and that too on the last day of school._

_Falling into a comfortable pace, the two of them walked down the various streets that would take them to the Cooper residence. The Jones' house was directly behind hers, it's entrance all the way on the next street. But all through senior year, when Archie had become completely involved in hurricane Ronnie, Jughead had escorted Betty home faithfully, making sure she reached safely, before jumping the fence in her backyard to get to his own home._

_"So... how does it feel to be a free man?"_

_He shook his head before giving her his patented half smile as she felt his chocolate brown orbs rest on her face for a second._

_"I've always been a free man Bets. This is just another step in the chain... What about you? How does it feel to finally put school behind you?"_

_A huge smile blooming on her face as she skipped alongside him was the only answer her got for a few seconds_

_"It feels good Juggie!... Not just school. It's so many things... I know that a lot of things are going to change now... but I can't help but feel happy that we are all finally getting somewhere in life. People aren't going to consider us kids anymore... I feel like I am finally growing into myself... you know?... like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Do you understand what I am saying? Or am I just being delusional?"_

_She'd always been the dreamer, the one who always tried reaching for the stars, even though a part of her knew that she'd never get hold of them. If it hadn't been for the constant support of her family and friends, she might've even gone down the depression roller coaster. But as it was, Hal and Alice Cooper were godsends and friends like Juggie kept her grounded when she needed it the most._

_Even now, he was looking at her with a soft smile on his face, his eyes warm and his whole being just relaxed, just taking in the atmosphere and living in the moment. She chuckled as he swept his hand up to his messy hair and pulled off his ever present crown beanie and stuck it on to her head_

_"Of course I understand Bets... and I can see you turning into a beautiful butterfly right before my eyes... let no one tell you otherwise. Okay?"_

_His eyes were once more looking into hers, dark brown clashing with dark blue, the depth and warmth they conveyed causing her to blush involuntarily._

_This was how it had been with them... not just best friends but not quite something more. It didn't feel right to ignore what was there, but it didn't feel right to act on it then either. And it had been that way since she'd decided in the beginning of her senior year that she was done being Archie Andrews' backup plan._

**-End Flashback-**

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><p><em><strong>AN: I know its not much... but a longer chapter is already written and I couldn't merge the two of them together. **_

_**As always, reviews are soul food for the writer... I would love to hear from you guys. **_

_**So plz click that button below and tell me what you thought. :)**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: I know you guys are probably going to want to hit me with whatever you get your hands on, but I can only apologize for not posting for such a long time. I haven't actually been writing anything for the past couple of years. This is something that was written a long time back and has remained unposted. Again, I apologize for the major delay. I can't really promise a regular schedule but please know I have not given up on this fic or any of the others that I have left unfinished. **_

**Chapter 05**

Jughead had been surprisingly supportive of Betty's decision, seeing as how much confusion it had created for his once best friend and almost brother Archie Andrews. He might've been a dedicated woman-hater, but Betty was a friend first, and a very good one at that. And Jughead had borne witness to the blonde crying over Archie leaving her in the lurch one too many times over the years, to disregard it all and stick by his girl-crazy friend's childish behavior.

Over the summer between junior and senior years, not only had Jughead managed to grow almost 4 inches, he'd also bulked up quite a bit and while not in the league of Moose Mason, he was no longer the reed thin figure he'd cut, back in his earlier years. With the addition of a sense of responsibility that came with maturity, Jughead Jones had almost transformed into someone else over the break from school… A fact that not many girls had seemed to miss, on their first day of senior year at school.

Times had been hard and with the addition of Jellybean in their family, a huge and hungry dog and the 8th wonder of the modern world that was Juggie's stomach, the Jones family finances had been tight. At the start of summer, Jughead had heard his parents talking at night, about the family's financial situation and even though he had managed to get full scholarship to the school of his choice, he knew that they would be finding it difficult to make ends meet if things continued the same way they had for so many years.

Hearing his parents talk seriously about cutting down on their own comforts and even discussing the idea of Mr. Jones picking up double shifts at work, or having Mrs. Jones go back to work while they put Jellybean in daycare, so that he and Jellybean could have a comfortable life and they could provide him with whatever he needed when he left Riverdale and went up north to college, had changed his view of things. In short, that midnight whispered conversation that he'd never been meant to hear, had changed Jughead from a carefree boy to the responsible young man he would become.

He knew that his parents had an inkling as to what had brought about the change in him, but no matter how many times they tried to assure him of the stability of their household and there being no need for Jughead to work after school, he had made his decision. With that firmly in mind, Jughead had cleaned up his act and looked at the various options open to him. One had stood out head and shoulders above the rest.

Le Petit Bistro, the new and snazzy French style restaurant was in need of a line cook. He had applied and though his resume had been one of the most inexperienced of the lot, Jughead's astounding culinary knowledge and kitchen skills had won over the sous chef who had taken the interviews. Working at the restaurant and managing his school work, come senior year, had proved a bit tiresome. But at the end of the week, when Jughead had received his paycheck, it had made all the late nights, the cram sessions and the complete and utter lack of social life, all worth it.

Not only had he settled into the life of a high school senior, he'd also matured into a young man who had a strong head firmly on his shoulders. Weekdays meant an early start - a new thing in Juggie's life, school and then work after, leaving him only time to get back home after service and get his homework done before he hit the bed in utter exhaustion. Weekends were relatively free… he had time to catch up with his friends and family during the first half of the day, with service at the restaurant in the evening on Saturday. Sunday, was rest day… a day when old Jughead came out to play… or not. Sundays were exclusively for rest, relaxation and doing absolutely nothing.

With work, school and the foreseeable future all mapped out, Jughead had resurfaced to find his friends scrambling to set their own lives to rights. Moose had already been shortlisted for a prestigious football scholarship, but was being tutored by Dilton because he needed to make good grades for the scholarship to remain, at the end of the year.

Dilton himself had been accepted early admission to MIT, a fact that the whole school had known at the beginning of senior year, thanks to Cheryl Blossom. The redhead from Pembrooke had supposedly been accepted to the Applied Math program at Brown – something that Jughead wouldn't have believed of her earlier. But he had seen and experienced enough proof of the rich and snooty Ms. Blossom's mental capabilities, during her relationship with Riverdale's resident genius, to doubt that claim.

Chuck Clayton had been accepted to his dream college for a degree in Graphic design, along with an athletic scholarship. But the kicker for him had been the fact that his girlfriend of almost 6 years, Nancy had also been accepted to the same school, to study interior design.

Midge Klump had opted to go for a theatre and fine arts program at the NYU. A school which Reggie Mantle was also going to… for a degree in Business. Funny how things worked out.

Veronica Lodge had wrangled an admission interview from a very famous and exclusive business school… in France. From what Juggie knew of the brunette, he knew that she would probably be one of the top movers and shakers of the fashion industry soon. With her degree in fashion merchandising, her knowledge of trends, her determination and the pedigree of the Lodge name behind her, there was no way Veronica Lodge was letting anything get in the way of her march to fame.

Then there was the problem with his two best friends - Betty Cooper and Archie Andrews… rather the problem with Betty and another one with Archie. Betty had applied and been accepted to a prestigious Journalism course… in the other side of the country, California to be exact. Elizabeth Cooper, their resident beach blonde, was going to the Journalism school at UC – Berkeley. A fact that while extremely pride inducing, also made him feel as if he was losing his best friend. Which should be crazy because even six months ago, had anyone asked him, he would've given that title to his redhead friend, Archibald Andrews.

The redhead who was also the source of tension and nervousness for his family, his faculty and his friends because he had yet to receive his acceptance from any of the schools he had applied to. A fact which seemed to elude the boy himself, for he seemed to be perfectly content with the way his life was shaping up.

On the rare night off from work, Jughead had allowed himself to be ambushed into going for an impromptu air-hockey championship at Pop's. It had been a long time since the group had had a chance to decompress, and Jughead had jumped at the chance to kick back and relax with the friends he'd known for almost all his life. Conversation over plates of cheesy fries, glasses of fizzy soda and bowls of deliciously cold icecream sundaes had turned to their futures and the inevitable exchanging of information about college acceptances had taken place.

Dilton was duly congratulated and envied for the stress free months ahead as he had already been accepted to the Engineering program at MIT during early admission. While Chuck and Moose were encouraged, in between games of foosball and air hockey, to relax and just let things happen in time. Chuck was working towards a full ride to the art school of his choice while Moose was working hard at the books to keep his football scholarship to Ohio State. Reggie didn't talk much for a change, worried as he was, about Moose's fist meeting his skull once more if he so much as mentioned the fact that he was going to the same college at one Miss Klump. The gang knew that he was all set for a double major in journalism and business at NYU though. It was what was expected of him and Reggie never failed to stand up to his responsibilities no matter how much of a sneaky rat he might be.

And then there were two. Jughead had already received a full scholarship from both his top two choices but hadn't really told anyone other than Dilton and Betty, because he knew that Archie his best friend hadn't received any admits yet. Dilton had come to know because he and Jughead had discussed colleges, programs and their future during a chemistry laboratory session when they had been partnered. And Betty knew because she had been at the Jones residence when he had received the letters.

Both Betty and Jughead were worried about Archie and his apparent lack of concern about his own future. A fact that the young man himself didn't seem too worried about. Every time anyone had questioned Archie about his plans after high school, he had come up with a different answer. None of which he really worked toward achieving. Jughead still hadn't figured out whether Archie was simply overconfident about his abilities or if he was completely blind to the realities of life. Either way, Jughead could almost see the disaster waiting to happen but this time, he knew he wouldn't be able to save his best buddy from whatever awaited him.

They were all going to graduate high school. They were kids no more and it was time to step out into the real world where your parents and friends couldn't save you from every pitfall, every mistake you made.

Dilton mentioning offhandedly that Jughead too was all set for college, precipitated what might have been one of the most uncomfortable arguments in the history of Riverdale. Most of the gang had not known about Jughead's plans for the future. While Jughead might not have been the most proactive young person of Riverdale, he was almost insulted by the astonished looks on his so called friends faces when they heard that he had been accepted to not one but both of his top choice colleges with a full ride.

_**A/N: Please don't forget to review your thoughts and ideas. I would be grateful for your feedback. **___


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